7 E3 2018 Game Reveal Rumors That Didn’t Come True

In a year with plenty of amazing games shown at E3 2018, there were still a disappointing number of no-shows. Some of these missed opportunities belonged to previously announced games, but there were also a few long-rumored reveals that didn’t come to fruition.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

I know, I know, this game was actually revealed at EA’s press conference. But does it really count as a reveal if the lead on the game clearly doesn’t want to say anything about the game and there’s nothing to actually see? Basically, all we got from this was the title, which isn’t even that good of a title. Don’t get me wrong, I’m super pumped to see Respawn’s third-person Star Wars game where you play as a young Jedi that escaped Order 66, but the key operative word in that sentence is “see.”

Splinter Cell

Some of my predictions and hopes were based more on emotion than fact, but Splinter Cell was one of those announcements that seemed to be a lock. The Walmart leak in the weeks preceding E3 pointed to a Splinter Cell announcement, with video game industry folks “in the know” hypothesizing that this would be an open world take on the series. Most of the other Walmart leaks came true, including an early announcement of Rage 2, so the Splinter Cell snub seems odd. My guess is that Ubisoft does have a Splinter Cell game in the works, but decided to hold back the announcement given other high profile projects. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it close next year’s Ubisoft presser.

Fable 4

I’m honestly kind of mad at Microsoft for teasing us this past year about a potential new entry in the Fable franchise. Obviously, Fable Legends was announced and then canceled in the past few years. But at Microsoft’s E3 press conference this year, a trailer started playing that seemed like it might be Fable 4. Then it turned out to be a console port of Black Desert, a popular MMO. I’m not saying the deception was intentional, but when you see a fantasy RPG that’s Xbox exclusive, it’s hard not to assume that it might be Fable.

Animal Crossing

In a year where Nintendo royally screwed the pooch and didn’t give us updates on the vast majority of its upcoming projects, it should be taken as a surprise that we didn’t also get an announcement for Animal Crossing. Assuming Nintendo is working on a new entry for the Switch, I’m glad they held off on this one if it isn’t likely to come out until 2020 or later. I don’t want Nintendo repeating these same sins again, announcing games that are too far off and then not following up with gameplay the following year.

Star Fox Grand Prix

This was another game that seemed assured to be announced, once the rumor surfaced that Retro was working on a Star Fox racing game in lieu of contributing to development on Metroid Prime 4. Well, we still don’t know if there’s any validity to that rumor because we didn’t see anything of Star Fox at the show (other than an annoying crossover with toys to life game Starlink) and we still don’t know what Retro Studios is doing with its time.

Rocksteady Game (Superman?)

A few weeks ago, a screenshot leaked of what looked like a title card for a Superman game developed by Rocksteady. It quickly made the rounds, as this type of project would make sense for the former Batman Arkham developer in partnership with WB. Previously, the studio was rumored to be working on a Justice League project, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the world’s tepid response to the movie changed the direction of the game. Considering the best-known Superman game is considered by many to be one of the worst games ever made, Rocksteady has its work cut out.

Bioshock

There wasn’t a ton of rumor around there being a new Bioshock game at E3 this year, but everything seemed to be aligned for an announcement. Bioshock Infinite came out five years ago, 2K has remained firm that the franchise isn’t dead, there’s been scuttlebutt about former Mafia III developers switching over to work on a Bioshock project, and 2K said on a recent earnings call that it had some big announcements to make regarding favorite franchises. I won’t stop holding out hope for a new game in the series until we finally get one. Hopefully, I don’t have to hold on forever.

And there you have it, 7 games that were rumored to be announced at E3 2018 — and then weren’t. What other games were you hoping to see at the show? Let me know in the comments below, and be sure to check out 10 previously announced games that were mysteriously absent from E3 this year.